Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is a 1984 motion picture released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the third feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. After the death of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) during the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the crew of the USS Enterprise returns to Earth. When James T. Kirk (William Shatner) learns that Spock’s spirit, or katra, is held in the mind of Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Kirk and company steal the Enterprise to return Spock’s body to his home planet. The crew must also contend with hostile Klingons, led by Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), bent on stealing the secrets of a powerful terraforming device.

Paramount commissioned the film after positive critical and commercial reaction to The Wrath of Khan. Nimoy directed, the first Star Trek cast member to do so. Producer Harve Bennett wrote the script starting from the end and working back, and intended the destruction of the Enterprise to be a shocking development. Bennett and Nimoy collaborated with effects house Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to develop storyboards and new ship designs; ILM also handled the film’s many special effects sequences. Aside from a single day of location shooting, all of the film’s scenes were shot on Paramount and ILM soundstages. Composer James Horner returned to expand his themes from the previous film.

The Search for Spock opened June 1, 1984. In its first week of release, the film broke Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom‘s gross records, making $16 million from almost 2,000 theaters across the United States. It went on to gross $76 million at the domestic box office, toward a total of $87 million worldwide. Critical reaction to The Search for Spock was mixed. Reviewers generally praised the cast and characters, while criticism tended to focus on the plot; the special effects were conflictingly received. Roger Ebert called the film a compromise between the tones of the first and second Star Trek films. The Search for Spock was released on multiple home video formats, including VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray high definition discs. Nimoy went on to direct The Search for Spock‘s sequel, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Trivia:

The villains of the film were originally intended to be Romulans, but upper studio management wanted Klingons to be used since they were better-known enemies. By the time the decision was made, the Romulan ship was already built and they did not want the expense of replacing it. However, since the TV show had already established that the Klingons and Romulans had shared technologies and ships in the past (for exactly the same real-world cost-cutting reasons), the idea of Klingons using a Romulan-style vessel was not a problem.

Although not mentioned on-screen, the novelization establishes that Saavik was half Vulcan and half Romulan. A scene cut from the previous film, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982), also established this but can not be considered canon. Leonard Nimoy seemed to have directed Robin Curtis to portray Saavik as a full Vulcan.

Leonard Nimoy does the turbolift voice in the scene when Scotty says “Up your shaft”, while exiting the Starship Execelsior. The end credits lists the voice under the alias Frank Force.

Production was endangered by the great fire at Paramount. William Shatner helped fight the fire and rescue a crewmember before firefighter reinforcements arrived. Shatner said that his motivation for doing so was purely to save a day on the shooting schedule, as he had a make a deadline to be available for shooting on a new season of “T.J. Hooker” (1982).

When the Enterprise enters space dock at the beginning of the movie, just before Uhura comments on the Excelsior’s appearance (“Would you look at that!”), another docked ship can be seen, in shadow, at the upper left corner of the screen. This ship is one of the alternative models that was considered for use as the Excelsior. This alternate model also makes several appearances in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), usually as a wrecked ship or piece of space junk.

The shot of the Enterprise approaching Spacedock is later re-used in various episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) with the Enterprise-D overlapping the original Enterprise (Another cost-saving method often used with Star Trek).

Grace Lee Whitney, who played Janice Rand, Kirk’s yeoman in season one of “Star Trek” (1966) and returned as transporter chief in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), makes a cameo appearance during the Enterprise’s docking sequence. She is the red haired officer in the spacedock lounge who shakes her head in disapproval as she sees the ship’s damage.

Tribbles, a popular creature from the “Star Trek” (1966) episode ‘The Trouble with Tribbles’, make a cameo appearance during the bar sequence where McCoy tries to hire a ship.

Gary Faga plays the security guard who Kirk knocks out; he also played the airlock technician that Spock gave the Vulcan nerve pinch to in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).

This is the first Star Trek ‘episode’ to be directed by a member of the Star Trek cast. Leonard Nimoy also directed Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and William Shatner directed Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989). This would later become commonplace on the various Trek TV series: Jonathan Frakes directed Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) as well as fourteen television episodes over three Star Trek series. LeVar Burton directed twenty-nine episodes over four Star Trek series. Other Star Trek actors who went on to direct their castmates were Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Andrew Robinson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Roxann Dawson, Robert Picardo and Tim Russ.

The self-destruct codes for the U.S.S. Enterprise apparently haven’t been changed in decades, as they are identical to those in the original series episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”.

Nicholas Meyer, director of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) was originally asked to direct, but refused because he thought that Spock’s death should have remained final. He later directed the final film of the original series, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).

The Excelsior was supposed to debut in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and be identified as newly-promoted Captain Sulu’s first command. This plot line was dropped and Excelsior saved for this film. Sulu would finally take command of her in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). The ship design would be reused for the USS Enterprise-B in the Star Trek: Generations (1994).

The USS Grissom bridge was the USS Enterprise bridge redressed with pink chairs, and the bar where Dr. McCoy tries to charter spaceflight is the redressed Enterprise sickbay.

As in the previous Star Trek film (Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)), the movie includes the famous “Space, the final frontier” monologue, spoken by Spock. As in the previous film, the words have been changed slightly, referring to seeking out “new life forms” instead of just “new life”. This was the final use of this modified version of the monologue.

The few Klingon phrases that James Doohan introduced in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) was used by Marc Okrand as the basis for the Klingon language in this film. Okrand’s Klingon language became a fully realized fictional language, and would be the basis for all future Klingon dialogue in future movies and television shows (as well as an obsession to become fluent in for hardcore Star Trek fans.)

The spacedock orbiting Earth is supposed to be five miles tall – making it easily observable from the surface. The actual model itself was 6 feet tall.

Chekov makes a remark in Russian to Scotty about the security breach in Spock’s quarters. Translated, he is saying, ‘I’m not crazy! There it is.’.

The uniforms worn by the security guards are the same uniforms from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), but they’re worn with the new red Starfleet uniforms, and a dark green turtleneck, which represents the security division.

This film marks the first appearances of the Excelsior class vessel, the Oberth class vessel (namely the USS Grissom), and the Klingon bird-of-prey. The models were reused as other, similar ships in numerous episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993).

James Goldstone was considered to direct the movie before Leonard Nimoy asked to direct.

The USS Grissom is evidently named after real life astronaut Gus Grissom, who was killed after the Apollo 1 spacecraft itself was destroyed on 27 January 1967.

Edward James Olmos was Leonard Nimoy’s original choice for the role of Kruge. However, executive producer Harve Bennett preferred Christopher Lloyd. Nimoy finally cast Lloyd because he came off more operatic and physically intimidating.

One of the boys who plays young Spock, had to wear brown colored contact lenses to match the color of Leonard Nimoy’s eyes as the boy’s natural eye color was blue.

In the scene where Kirk meets Admiral Morrow for a drink to discuss taking the Enterprise back to the Genesis Planet, an abstract hanging sculpture can be seen on the wall behind Morrow. The sculpture is in fact one of the miniatures of the Epsilon IX station from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), which was made of acid-etched brass.

When Dr. McCoy declares his full name, the “H” stands for Horatio. Horatio Hornblower was Gene Roddenberry’s model for Captain Kirk. David Andrew McCoy is his father’s full name, according to the novelization of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).

As explained by William Shatner in Star Trek 25th Anniversary Special (1991) (TV), there was tight security on the set to minimize theft, as incurred on Star Trek II. Picture ID badges, codes and the works were used so much that Shatner quipped it was like Paramount’s real-life “Mission: Impossible” (1966).

The chirping on the Tricorder (especially when Sulu scans after the Enterprise is destroyed) comes from an audio remote control device for the Radio Shack (“Realistic” label) answering machine. The remote control was able to be used away from home, over the phone to signal the answering machine (through electronic chirping sounds) to play back massages or carry out other functions.

Christopher Lloyd, who is most famous for playing Doc Brown, inventor of the time machine in the Back to the Future (1985) trilogy, plays the Klingon captain who’s ship is taken over by Kirk and his crew. In the next movie, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Kirk ironically uses this same ship to travel back to the 1980s, near the 1985 date that Brown first used his famous DeLorean time traveler.

Christopher Lloyd, who played the Klingon Captain Kruge, also played Jim Ignatalski on the classic television show “Taxi” (1978). In one particular episode, a television executive is in his cab and Jim says he loved the show Star Trek. Jim added that he didn’t like the leader of the Klingons because the writers had him say things a “real Klingon just wouldn’t say.”

When the crew is standing on the bluff supposedly watching the flaming Enterprise hulk, they were in fact watching a tennis ball mounted on an overhead boom microphone. The shot had to taken many times because not everyone was watching it at the same time.

When Kirk calls out to Kruge, the Klingon commander has his head in his hands. According to the original storyline, Kruge is not mourning the loss of his troops, he’s humiliated because Kirk was more cunning than he was. Through Kirk’s apparent suicide, Kruge has been beaten and shamed.

The young Spock was voiced by Frank Welker. Welker and Nimoy would go on to share the role of Megatron/Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie (1986). Welker would also provide numerous voices in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), directed by Nimoy’s cousin, Michael Bay. Nimoy himself was offered the title role as well, but it is not yet known if he accepted.

It was Director/Star Leonard Nimoy who conceived the distinctive design of the Klingons’ Bird Of Prey. At a preproduction meeting with Industrial Light And Magic, Nimoy posed his arms and hands to demonstrate the vessel’s wings as they ultimately would appear in the final film. The DVD documentary, “Space Docks and Birds Of Prey”, revealed that the physique of a bodybuilder in the “crab” pose, emphasizing the trapezius muscles, was also the basis for the ship’s aggressive stance. Finally, the script, at the time when it was received by ILM, established that the Bird Of Prey was definitely a Romulan vessel, commandeered by Kruge. With that back story in mind, the feather-like pattern on the ship’s underside was a direct tribute the original Bird Of Prey as it first appeared in the 1966 original series episode “Balance of Terror”. Though the final version of Star Trek 3 (and subsequent star trek films and TV episodes) refer to the ship as purely of the Klingon fleet, the Romulan plumage-detail was never lost.

Marc Okrand had to update the grammar and vocabulary of the Klingon language several times when actors would get the line wrong and it was deemed easier to re-write the language than re-shoot the scene.

In a June 2009 interview, Christopher Lloyd said that the role of Klingon Commander Kruge was among one of his favorite roles he ever portrayed in his acting career.

Close to the end of the film, after landing on Vulcan. While Spock’s body is being carried up the long staircase to begin the fal tor pan ritual, the “maidens” carrying Spock are not actually touching him. They are actually holding their hands above him, effectively levitating his body to the alter.

William Alan Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor and novelist. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T. Kirk, captain of the starship USS Enterprise, in the television series Star Trek from 1966 to 1969, Star Trek: The Animated Series and in seven of the subsequent Star Trek feature films. He has written a series of books chronicling his experiences playing Captain Kirk and being a part of Star Trek as well as several co-written novels set in the Star Trek universe. He has also authored a series of science fiction novels called TekWar that were adapted for television.

Shatner also played the title veteran police sergeant in T.J. Hooker from 1982 to 1986. He has since worked as a musician, author, producer, director, and celebrity pitchman. From 2004 to 2008, he starred as attorney Denny Crane in over 100 episodes of the television dramas The Practice and its spin-off Boston Legal, for which he has won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. As of 2009, Shatner stars as the voice of Don Salmonella Gavone on the animated series The Gavones.

William Shatner

Trivia:

His third wife, Nerine Kidd, accidentally drowned in the swimming pool at their home in Studio City. [9 August 1999]

Daughter Lisabeth Shatner wrote the script for the “T.J. Hooker” (1982) episode “Partners in Death” (1986).

Breeds and shows American Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses.

Has 3 daughters, Leslie Carol (born 1958), Lisabeth Shatner(born 1960) and Melanie Shatner (born 1964). He and his wife live in Southern California. Also has a 360 acre horse farm in Kentucky.

Hobbies: horses and tennis.

He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song “Voices That Care”.

Attended McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Its Students University Centre was later named after him.

Shortly after the original series of “Star Trek” (1966) was cancelled, his wife Gloria Rand left him and took him to the cleaners. With very little money and acting prospects now, he lived in a truck bed camper until acting bit-parts turned into higher paying roles.

Shatner is the CEO of the Toronto-based Core Digital Effects company that did the effects for the 1996 film Fly Away Home (1996).

Is fluent in French and Esperanto.

Wrote some Star Trek fiction novels, among them “The Ashes of Eden”, “The Return”, and “Avenger”.

Children with Gloria Rand: Leslie Carol (born August 31, 1958, married to Gordon Walker, two children: Grant and Eric); Lisabeth Mary (born June 12, 1960, married to Andy Clement); Melanie Ann (born August 1, 1964, married to actor Joel Gretsch).

Daughter Lisabeth Shatner was Miss Golden Globe 1985.

Both his daughters Melanie Shatner and Lisabeth Shatner appeared in “Star Trek: Miri (#1.8)” (1966).

His daughter Melanie Shatner had a small role in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) that was directed by her father.

In 2001, he married Elizabeth Martin, a horse trainer who lost her husband to cancer in 1997. Their grief and their love of horses drew them together they currently live in Southern California.

His face appears on the cover of the official First Aid handbook issued by the National Safety Council, from his time hosting “Rescue 911″ (1989).

Produces and hosts the annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show which he founded in 1990. Over 1.25 million dollars has been raised for children’s charities, such as Ahead With Horses, L.A.’s BEST and Children’s Museum of Los Angeles.

Wrote and directed a college musical ….”The Red, White and Blue Revue”.

He understudied Christopher Plummer in a stage production of “Henry V”.

Bill was born to Ann and Joseph Shatner on March 22, 1931 in Montreal, Canada.

Has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in Montreal.

His favorite “Star Trek” (1966) episode is “Star Trek: The Devil in the Dark (#1.25)” (1967).

His clipped, dramatic narration, peppered with dramatic pauses, is often referred to as “Shatnerian”.

In the late 1960’s he recorded an LP titled “The Transformed Man”, which is considered a camp classic today. One track was a spoken cover version of “Mr. Tambourine Man”, in which he gave an over-dramatic performance that some compared to a man on a bad drug trip. Shatner today embraces his checkered reputation as a “camp” performer.

His version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was voted as the worst massacre of a The Beatles song ever in May 2003.

Is a vegetarian.

Did most of his own stunts for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), even though he had a stunt double, John Meier.

During the filming of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) a fire broke out on the studio lot that threatened to destroy the Genesis planet sets. Shatner was one of a few cast and crew members who helped try to put the fire out, grabbing a fire hose and spraying it at the fire.

Was the first person to appear on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” (1993) sketch “Celebrity Secrets,” which has since become a regular sketch on the show featuring major celebrities such as Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, and his fellow “Star Trek” captains, Patrick Stewart and George Takei.

Has appeared in productions at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.

According to Debra Hill, a Halloween mask in Shatner’s likeness was painted white and used as the mask of Michael Myers in the original Halloween (1978).

Worked as a camp counselor, as a teen, at Camp B’nai Brith in the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec.

At first, Shatner believed that as the star of “Star Trek” (1966), he was supposed to “outshine” the rest of the actors. He said later he came to appreciate the merits of an ensemble cast, and each member’s contribution, working on the show.

In his early performing days, Shatner was once required to play the piano in a scene (with music supplied off-camera), then pull a weapon from a drawer to kill another actor. First the piano cue went badly, then the only “weapon” available turned out to be a corkscrew. Shatner carried on, and in his own words, “I screwed him to death!”

His 1986 “Saturday Night Live” (1975) appearance mocked Iran-Contra figure Oliver North (with Shatner standing mute in a green uniform), his own recently-cancelled “T.J. Hooker” (1982) and even overzealous “Star Trek” (1966) fans, when a sketch had him addressing a convention with the words “Get a life!”. So many fans asked him later if he’d meant anything by the sketch (he hadn’t, it was written by the “Saturday Night Live” (1975) staff) that “Get a Life!” became the title of his fan memoir.

Did a concert with crooner Brian Evans in Key West, joining the singer for his own style and rendition of the songs “Lady Is A Tramp” and “What Kind of Fool Am I”.

Has appeared in episodes of six different series with Leonard Nimoy: “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (1964); “Mission: Impossible” (1966); “Star Trek” (1966); “Star Trek” (1973); “T.J. Hooker” (1982) and “Futurama” (1999).

He had some worries about appearing in “Futurama: Where No Fan Has Gone Before (#4.12)” (2002). He spoke with Billy West, who told Shatner that the cast and crew had nothing but respect for him. He agreed to continue.

He joins Sylvester Stallone, Prince, Kevin Costner, Roberto Benigni and Tom Green as being the only actors to direct themselves in performances that would “win” them a Razzie Award for Worst Actor.

Once bought a horse from Chelsea Field’s father who is also the father-in-law of Scott Bakula.

Has appeared in episodes of three different series with George Takei and Nichelle Nichols: “Star Trek” (1966), “Star Trek” (1973) and “Futurama” (1999).

Is of Ukrainian-Jewish descent and is mentioned in “The Simpsons: Like Father, Like Clown (#3.6)” (1991) as being a famous Jewish entertainer. He is also mentioned by Adam Sandler in “The Hanukkah Song” (“You don’t need Deck The Halls or Jingle Bell Rock/When you can spin a dreidel with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock”).

During his marriage to Marcy Lafferty he was the son-in-law of Perry Lafferty.

Was one of the guests at Sandra Bullock’s and Jesse James’ wedding.

The most popular TV-star in Germany, elected in on-line-voting by the spectators of the national TV-channel KabelEins. Appeared in the final TV-show (aired 10/19/ 2005) to receive the honor personally.

Suffers from tinnitus (ringing in the ears), along with “Star Trek” (1966) co- star Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy’s right ear and Shatner’s left ear are affected. Their hearing was apparently damaged during the filming of the episode “Arena” when they were both too close to a special effects explosion.

Auctioned a kidney stone to GoldenPalace.com for $75,000. The money went to Habitat for Humanity, a charity that builds houses for the needy.

Is an expert equestrian (horse rider), which was put to good use in Star Trek: Generations (1994). Co-star Patrick Stewart, despite his classical background, had very little experience with horses, so Shatner helped teach him. One of Shatner’s tips was to wear pantyhose under his pants, to reduce chafing.

Wrote the TekWar (1994) (TV) series of sci-fi books, completely unrelated to “Star Trek”. These were turned into several made-for-TV movies and a short-lived series. Shatner himself costarred, and directed several episodes.

Released an album titled ‘Has Been’ in 2004. The album was produced by Ben Folds who also plays on the album. Other guest performers on the album include Joe Jackson, Aimee Mann, Henry Rollins and Adrian Belew.

Runs “SPLATT ATTACK!”, a paintball recreation center in the US, and sometimes participates in the competitions.

To this day, still hasn’t fully recovered from the depression brought on by the 1968 death of his father, Joseph Shatner. Roddenberry personally gave permission to postpone shooting scenes with Nimoy (Trek episode “Devil in the Dark”) for him to attend funeral and return within a week.

Mr. Lemli, a character from the original “Star Trek” (1966) series played by Roger Holloway, was named after his three daughters Elizabeth, Leslie and Melanie.

Money from his dad’s Laval, Quebec hardware and furniture business supported him during the actor’s job hunt in the U.S.

Shatner wielded a lightsabre towards the end of “Invasion Iowa”. George Lucas was so flattered that he invited him to speak and croon “My Way” for his Lifetime Achievement ceremony in 2005.

Dr. James Kirkland, Ph.D wrote a 1996 “Star Trek” novel titled, “First Frontier”. And in his acknowledgments, thanked Capt. Kirk (original series episode “Arena”) for inspiration and being his childhood hero.

Overcame his greatest phobia of falling, while directing the Yosemite National Park scenes of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).

Nearly ten years after acting in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), whose plot involved rescuing humpback whales, Shatner narrated a television documentary about endangered species (including humpbacks), in which he became emotional to the point of weeping.

Leonard Nimoy was the best man at his wedding to Nerine Kidd.

His old house on Bag Ave., in Laval, Quebec was bought by a millionaire.

The hometown of his alter-ego Capt. Kirk, Riverside, Iowa is known by hardcore Trekkers as “the other Kirkland”. Kirkland, Canada is a few miles from Montreal, Quebec.

Was mentioned in David Fincher’s 1999 film, Fight Club (1999). When Tyler asks the Narrator who he’d fight, the Narrator ponders for a moment and replies, “Shatner. I’d fight William Shatner”.

One of his favorite restaurants to eat at while in Montreal is Vichy’s.

Often jogged for charity from 1976-1980. Running to support the Olympics held in his hometown of Montreal and for late Canadian amputee Terry Fox and his cross country marathon.

After the success of his sixth “Trek” film and the rise of “The X Files” (1993), he was interviewed as believing in U.F.O.s’ existence, claiming he, himself, had seen the unexplained when he was younger.

Father-in-law of Andy Clement and Joel Gretsch.

“Trek” novel cover artist Keith Birdsong names Shatner as the most difficult to render. His cheekbone structure, especially, when painting either the series or motion picture eras.

Underwent right hip replacement surgery on June 2008.

Once lived on Giraud Street, in Montreal.

When recording the narration for his “Shatnerverse” Trek novels, he pronounces the name “Cardassian” (normally pronounced “car-DASS-ian”) as with Kimberly Kardashian.

Reprised his Sergeant “T.J. Hooker” (1982) character for Showtime (2002) and Fanboys (2008).

He and his wife, Elizabeth, have two Dobermans.

In the June 17, 2009 episode of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” (2009) it was revealed he cannot perform the Vulcan salute (‘live long and prosper’) hand gesture.

William Shatner expressed his sadness at not being asked to reprise his iconic role of Captain James T. Kirk for the new “Star Trek” film (2009). In response, Shatner wrote “Star Trek: Academy Collision Course” (with Judith and Garfield Reeves)as his own version of how Kirk and Spock met. In his version of the story, a teen aged Kirk gets into criminal trouble and is given a choice: Go to prison or join Starfleet. He, of course, joins Starfleet and meets Spock. But he does not meet any other major character from the “Star Trek” series. However, the story does tie into the first season episode “The Conscience Of The King” and Kirk meets his Starfleet bully, Finnigan from “Shore Leave”.

Once performed in a movie whose entire dialogue was in Esperanto.

Grew up in the Notre-Dame-de-Grace (NDG) section of Montreal.

Remained friends with Heather Locklear during and after “T.J. Hooker” (1982).

Remained friends with Leonard Nimoy during and after “Star Trek” (1966).

Trivia

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#79). [1995]

Won the roles of the Interviewer in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) and Eric Draven in The Crow (1994) after the death of friend and fellow actor River Phoenix (who had been cast in the first role and turned down the second). Slater also turned down the lead in The Crow (1994), leading producers to actor Brandon Lee – who would become permanently linked with the film and its story when he was accidentally killed on the set.

Daughter, Eliana Sophia, born. [15 August 2001]

Is a green belt in kempo karate. [August 2003]

Past girlfriends include Kim Walker, whom he broke up with during the filming of Heathers (1988) for Winona Ryder, later Samantha Mathis, Christina Applegate and Patricia Arquette. Has also been engaged to actress/model Nina Huang.

His mother, Mary Jo Slater was the casting director in 4 of his feature film appearances: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991); Murder in the First (1995); The Contender (2000) and Who Is Cletis Tout?(2001).

British stage debut as Randle P. McMurphy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in August of 2004, delayed by a bout of chicken pox. Received a standing ovation on his first night playing McMurphy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” on the London stage.

Born on the same day as Oscar-nominated actor Edward Norton. He also shares a birthday with the following celebrities: Denis Leary, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Patrick Swayze and Robert Redford.

Attended Dalton School and the Professional Children’s School.

Born and reared in New York.

Made his theater debut in “The Music Man” at the age of 9.

The trousers worn by him in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) are the same ones worn by William Shatner in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982). He noticed the name label still inside them.

Donated all of his paycheck from Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) to River Phoenix’s favorite charities after the young actor’s untimely death at 23.

As a teenager, he appeared in the musical “Merlin,” one of the most expensive and most notorious flops in Broadway history. The show had been conceived as a vehicle for Doug Henning’s magic, with Henning playing the eponymous wizard. Slater played “Young Merlin” and “Arthur”; other stars included Chita Rivera and Nathan Lane (in what was only his second Broadway role).

The long-standing rumor about Christian’s eyebrows (that he shaved them off to look like Spock and they never grew back properly) is actually false. Christian was joking with a reporter in one of his first interviews, and it was somehow printed as fact. He actually stated that he regretted mentioning it, as he still gets asked about the “Halloween costume gone bad” nearly two decades later.

Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was a suggestion in the Worst Actor category for his performances in Alone in the Dark (2005) and Mindhunters (2004). He failed to receive a nomination, however (had he gotten the nomination, it would have been his first in 14 years. He was previously nominated for Worst Supporting Actor at the 1992 Razzie Awards for his roles in Mobsters (1991) and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)).

He has co-starred with each of the two leads of Face/Off (1997), John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, in Broken Arrow (1996) and Windtalkers (2002), respectively. All three films were directed by ‘John Woo’ (I).

His favorite movies are The Witches of Eastwick (1987) and The Shining (1980), both starring his idol Jack Nicholson.

Is of English/Irish descent.

No relation to actress Helen Slater, who, ironically, played his sister in the movie The Legend of Billie Jean.

His favorite TV shows are “Boston Legal” and “Entourage”.

Favorite song is “A Little Less Converstion” by Elvis Presley.

During his interview and director’s commentary on the DVD for Der Name der Rose (1986), director Jean-Jacques Annaud reported that after 15-year-old Christian Slater had been cast as Adso of Melk, he was asked to read with three actresses auditioning for the role of “The Girl.” He read first with Valentina Vargas and was scheduled to read with the other two actresses the next day, but that evening, he sent his mother (casting agent Mary Jo Slater) to tell Annaud that young Christian was so smitten with the 22-year-old Vargas that he didn’t want the other two women to be considered. Annaud, amused, complied with Slater’s wish.

Gremlin is an English folkloric creature, commonly depicted as mischievous and mechanically oriented, with a specific interest in aircraft. Although their origin is found in myths among airmen, claiming that the gremlins were responsible for sabotaging aircraft, John W. Hazen states that “some people” derive the name from the Old English word gremian, “to vex”.Since World War II, different fantastical creatures have been referred to as gremlins, bearing varying degrees of resemblance to the originals.

In 1943, Bob Clampett directed Falling Hare, a Merrie Melodies cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny. With Roald Dahl’s book and Walt Disney’s proposed film being the inspiration, this short has been one of the early Gremlin stories shown to cinema audiences in which multiple gremlins featured.It features Bugs Bunny in conflict with a gremlin at an airfield. The Bugs Bunny cartoon was followed in 1944 by Russian Rhapsody, another Merrie Melodies short showing Russian gremlins sabotaging an aircraft piloted by Adolf Hitler.

Bugs Bunny "Falling Hare"

A 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” directed by Richard Donner, featured a gremlin attacking a plane.This episode was remade as a segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). In the original television episode, the gremlin appears as an almost ape-like creature which inspects the aircraft’s wing with the curiosity of an animal and then proceeds to damage the wing. William Shatner plays the passenger who sees the Gremlin on the plane’s wing. No one else sees the Gremlin and Shatner’s character is removed from the plane on a stretcher with symptoms of psychosis. In the movie segment, the gremlin more resembles a troll or a goblin, with green skin and a frightening grin. This incarnation of the gremlin appears to be more intellectual and menacing, and is also shown to be capable of flying. The episode was famous enough to inspire at least two parodies:

William Shatner in the The Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (1963).

A gremlin makes an appearance in a Halloween special of The Simpsons paralleling The Twilight Zone’s “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”, (the segment is even named “Terror at 5½ Feet”) in which the gremlin attempts to destroy the wheel of Bart’s school bus.

Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror IV" Terror at 5 1/2 Feet

A Tiny Toon special titled Night Ghoulery (a spoof of Night Gallery, with Babs presenting in Rod Serling’s style) has a segment named “Gremlin on a Wing”, which parodies “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” as well, with Plucky in William Shatner’s place, accompanied by Hamton in an airplane, and a gremlin similar to that which appearen in Bugs’ short Falling Hare. In fact, this gremlin is so persistent, he even appears at the end as if he had impersonated the stewardess (who looks remarkably similar to Star Trek character Lt. Uhura).

As is not uncommon with folkloric creatures in fiction, the nature of gremlins differs greatly depending on the setting. Creatures called gremlins are encountered in various forms in video games, fantasy literature, role playing games, etc. Many of the gremlins encountered in popular culture have little in common with the original critters from the air force legend other than their name.

Pilot and Gremlin

A famous example is the 1984 movie Gremlins and its 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. The gremlins in these movies had nothing obvious to do with aircraft in particular, although they were portrayed as adept at subverting or sabotaging mechanical systems; more explicit connections between the films’ Gremlins and those of folklore were drawn in the novelizations however. The gremlins in these movies differ from traditional folkloric mythology as they appear as monsters with large ears that are similar to a bat’s, sharp teeth and claws, red eyes, and dark reptilian skin.

In fact, the creatures of this movie are named “gremlins” because the protagonist, Billy Peltzer, recalls a speech by his friend, Murray Futterman, about the legend of gremlins. Thus, noting the similarities, he names them “gremlins”.

Another example of gremlins in popular culture appears on the episode of Charmed named “The Power of Three Blondes” where two little blue creatures Paige referred to as gremlins start sabotaging things at her new temp job.